Foreign minister admits government employees did work on his Żejtun home

Foreign Affairs minister Carmelo Abela has confirmed that government workers had built a wooden structure on the roof of his Zejtun home, but said that the work was paid for, and not done during work hours.

"With reference to the report that was published in the Sunday Times of Malta regarding the allegations that work occurred during work hours on his private residence, Carmelo Abela denies that he gave any instructions for this work to be done during normal work hours. In fact, from what he can confirm, the installation of this small structure occurred on a Saturday, which is not a normal work day for the employee," Abela’s ministry said in a statement.

"The work that occurred in 2015 consisted of a temporary small wooden structure on the roof that serves as a cover. The requested payment was made for this work."

The statement was a reaction to a report in the Sunday Times of Malta, which stated that back in 2015, public employees at the Home Affairs ministry, which he was responsible for at the time, had built a large wooden structure at his private residence.

The report states that the work was carried out on government paid time by two ministry employees, one of whom was a carpenter who had visited the minister's residence on a number of occasions to take measurements. 

When confronted about the works by the Sunday Times of Malta, Abela is reported to have been caught off-guard and to have said that he needed to look into the matter because he didn’t know who built the structure.